Fungi

Biology and Applications

Kevin Kavanagh

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781119977698
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Microbiology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Fungi: Biology and Applications, Second Edition provides a comprehensive treatment of fungi, covering biochemistry, genetics and the medical and economic significance of these organisms at introductory level. With no prior knowledge of the subject assumed, the opening chapters offer a broad overview of the basics of fungal biology, in particular the physiology and genetics of fungi and also a new chapter on the application of genomics to fungi. Later chapters move on to include more detailed coverage of topics such as antibiotic and chemical commodities from fungi, new chapters on biotechnological use of fungal enzymes and fungal proteomics, and fungal diseases of humans, antifungal agents for use in human therapy and fungal pathogens of plants.

1

Introduction to Fungal Physiology

Graeme M. Walker and Nia A. White

1.1 Introduction

Fungal physiology refers to the nutrition, metabolism, growth, reproduction and death of fungal cells. It also generally relates to interaction of fungi with their biotic and abiotic environment, including cellular responses to stress. The physiology of fungal cells impacts significantly on the environment, industrial processes and human health. In relation to ecological aspects, the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in nature would not be possible without the participation of fungi acting as primary decomposers of organic material. Furthermore, in agricultural operations, fungi play important roles as mutualistic symbionts, pathogens and saprophytes, where they mobilize nutrients and affect the physico-chemical environment. Fungal metabolism is also responsible for the detoxification of organic pollutants and for bioremediating heavy metals in the environment. The production of many economically important industrial commodities relies on the exploitation of yeast and fungal metabolism, and these include such diverse products as whole foods, food additives, fermented beverages, antibiotics, probiotics, pigments, pharmaceuticals, biofuels, enzymes, vitamins, organic and fatty acids and sterols. In terms of human health, some yeasts and fungi represent major opportunistic life-threatening pathogens, whilst others are life-savers, as they provide antimicrobial and chemotherapeutic agents. In modern biotechnology, several yeast species are being exploited as ideal hosts for the expression of human therapeutic proteins following recombinant DNA technology. In addition to the direct industrial exploitation of yeasts and fungi, it is important to note that these organisms, most notably the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, play increasingly significant roles as model eukaryotic cells in furthering our fundamental knowledge of biological and biomedical science. This is especially the case now that numerous fungal genomes have been completely sequenced, and the information gleaned from fungal genomics and proteomics is providing valuable insight into human genetics and heritable disorders. However, knowledge of cell physiology is essential if the functions of many of the currently unknown fungal genes are to be fully elucidated.

It is apparent, therefore, that fungi are important organisms for human society, health and well-being and that studies of fungal physiology are very pertinent to our understanding, control and exploitation of this group of microorganisms. This chapter describes some basic aspects of fungal cell physiology, focusing primarily on nutrition, growth and metabolism in unicellular yeasts and filamentous fungi.

1.2 Morphology of Yeasts and Fungi

Most fungi are filamentous, many grow as unicellular yeasts and some primitive fungi, such as the chytridomycetes, grow as individual rounded cells or dichotomous branched chains of cells with root-like rhizoids for attachment to a nutrient resource. Here, we will consider the most common growth forms: the filamentous fungi and unicellular yeasts.

1.2.1 Filamentous Fungi

The gross morphologies of macrofungi and microfungi are very diverse (see Plate 1.1). For example, we can easily recognize a variety of mushrooms and toadstools, the sexual fruiting bodies of certain macrofungi (the higher fungi Asomycotina and Basidiomycotina and related forms), during a walk through pasture or woodland. Microfungi (the moulds) are also diverse and are often observed on decaying foods and detritus, whereas many, including the coloured rusts, smuts and mildews, are common plant pathogens. Closer inspection of these visible structures, however, reveals that all are composed of aggregated long, branching threads termed hyphae (singular: hypha), organized to support spores for reproduction and dissemination. The hyphae of these aerial structures extend and branch within the supporting substratum as a network, termed a mycelium, from which the apically growing hyphae seek out, exploit and translocate available nutrients. Apically growing hyphae usually have a relatively constant diameter ranging from 1 to 30 μm or more, depending on fungal species and growth conditions. Filamentous fungi may be cultivated within the laboratory on a variety of different liquid or solid media. On agar, the radially expanding colonial growth form of the fungal mycelium is most evident, extending from an inoculum, on, within and sometimes above the substrate, forming a near spherical three-dimensional colony. This radiating, circular pattern is also visible during the growth of fairy ring fungi in grassland and as ringworm infections of the skin.

The hyphae of individual fungi may (theoretically) extend endlessly via apical growth, provided they are supported with appropriate nutrients and other environmental conditions. Eucarpic fungi, therefore, are spatially and temporally indeterminate organisms and, unlike animal, plant and other microbial individuals, have no predetermined maximum size or age. The mycelium is not, however, simply a homogeneously extending entity, but displays considerable developmental plasticity. Different interconnected regions of the fungal mycelium may grow, branch, anastomose (fuse), age, die, sporulate and display varying physiological and biochemical activities at different times or even simultaneously, depending on local micro-environmental conditions. Thus, colonies growing on relatively homogeneous media may be pigmented, exhibit different morphological sectors, produce aerial structures, grow as fast-effuse or slow-dense forms and even exhibit rhythmic growth (Plate 1.1). As well as reproductive structures and substrate mycelium, certain higher fungi, most notably the basidiomycetes, when growing within an environment where nutrients are distributed heterogeneously, can differentiate into long string-like structures called rhizomorphs or cords. These linear organs have evolved to rapidly explore for, connect and translocate water and nutrients between patches of resource (e.g. pieces of fallen timber on the forest floor or from tree root to tree root). Accordingly, many, particularly mature, rhizomorphs contain internal vessel hyphae which possess a wide diameter, forming a channel running along the organ. The peripheral hyphae are often closely packed and melanized for insulation.

Filamentous fungi and yeasts are simply different styles of fungal growth suitable for occupation of different habitats and produced by differing cell growth polarities. Many species termed dimorphic fungi can adopt either the hyphal or unicellular yeast forms according to environmental circumstances. For example, certain important human and animal pathogens exist as yeast forms mobilized in body fluids but are able to form hyphae or pseudohyphae for tissue invasion.

1.2.2 Yeasts

Yeasts are unicellular (mostly Ascomycete, Basidiomycete or Deuteromycete) fungi that divide asexually by budding or fission and whose individual cell size can vary widely from 2 to 3 μm to 20–50 μm in length and 1–10 μm in width. S. cerevisiae (commonly referred to as brewer's or baker's yeast), is generally ellipsoid in shape with a large diameter of 5–10 μm and a small diameter of 1–7 μm (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Scanning electron micrograph of a typical yeast cell. (×10 000). BS, bud scar; BirS, birth scar. (Reproduced with kind permission of Professor Masa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• List of Contributors
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Fungal Physiology
• Chapter 2: Fungal Genetics
• Chapter 3: Fungal Genomics
• Chapter 4: Fungal Genetics: A Post-Genomic Perspective
• Chapter 5: Fungal Fermentations Systems and Products
• Chapter 6: Pharmaceutical and Chemical Commodities from Fungi
• Chapter 7: Biotechnological Use of Fungal Enzymes
• Chapter 8: The Biotechnological Exploitation of Heterologous Protein Production in Fungi
• Chapter 9: Fungal Proteomics
• Chapter 10: Fungal Infections of Humans
• Chapter 11: Antifungal Agents for Use in Human Therapy
• Chapter 12: Fungal Pathogens of Plants
• Answers to Revision Questions
• Color Plates
• Index